Dolphins Notes: Quarterbacks, Moore, Cutler
It has been a tumultuous 24 hours for the Dolphins. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill left practice earlier this week after suffering a non-contact injury, and subsequent reports have indicated the 29-year-old may miss the entire upcoming season.
Predictably, a number of free agent quarterbacks have now been connected to the wide-open Miami gig, including former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. Reports said that the organization had reached out to the veteran signal-caller, while later whispers said that there was mutual interest between the two sides. The 34-year-old retired back in May, but signing with Miami would allow him to reunite with former Bears’ offensive coordinator (and current Dolphins head coach) Adam Gase.
There haven’t been many updates since last night, but we’ve compiled several reactions to all of the news below…
- ESPN’s Josina Anderson said (via Twitter) that no deal is imminent between the Dolphins and Jay Cutler. The team is still doing its due diligence and having discussions on all of the possible options. Our list of the top available quarterbacks can be found here.
- One of those options would seemingly be backup quarterback Matt Moore, who has appeared in 10 total games over the past five seasons. If the 32-year-old is required to step in as the starter, he’s confident the offense can continue to click. “I’ve done this before in stepping up and getting ready if need be,” Moore told ESPN.com’s James Walker. “So that’s as much as I know and kind of the attitude I have moving forward. It stinks [with Tannehill being injured], but I thought today was a good practice. Guys were popping around and pretty competitive.”
- Meanwhile, while many assumed that Cutler had retired for good, former teammate Kyle Long said he wouldn’t be shocked if the veteran returns to the field. “Obviously, knowing Jay for a while, I completely thought he was on full Montana mode, just chilling with his wife and kids,” the Bears lineman said (via ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson). “But nothing would surprise me. Obviously being with [Dolphins coach Adam] Gase here and having relative success and a good relationship there, you never know. I don’t know anything about it. I just read about it today and thought it was pretty funny as well.”
Latest On Dolphins’ Quarterback Situation
There has been mutual interest between Miami and Jay Cutler since Dolphins starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a left knee injury on Thursday. Adding to the speculation, Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post reports that Cutler would “really like to” reunite with Dolphins head coach Adam Gase. The feeling is mutual, as Cutler is Miami’s No. 1 choice among available passers, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who adds that the two sides have discussed a contract (on Twitter).
The 34-year-old Cutler, who retired from football in May after receiving limited interest as a free agent and then signed with FOX Sports, has a good relationship with Gase from their time in Chicago in 2015. Then the Bears’ offensive coordinator, Gase helped Cutler to one of his best seasons, in which he completed 64.4 percent of passes, averaged 7.58 yards per attempt and threw 21 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions.
Whether Cutler joins Gase in Miami will largely boil down to the severity of Tannehill’s injury, which will either keep him out for several weeks or sideline him for the entire season. Cutler would reportedly only put his broadcasting career on hold to join the Dolphins as a full-time starter, so a less serious diagnosis for Tannehill might lead the Dolphins to look elsewhere for help under center.
One possibility could be Browns veteran Brock Osweiler, who isn’t a lock to make a roster that also includes rookie DeShone Kizer and second-year man Cody Kessler. Osweiler worked under Gase as a backup in Denver from 2012-14, when the latter served as the team’s quarterbacks coach and then O-coordinator, and developed immense respect for the coach. Gase is “brilliant” and “a tremendous coach,” Osweiler told Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com.
Thanks to the close relationship between Osweiler and Gase, not to mention the strong likelihood that Kizer will start for the Browns, the Dolphins will probably inquire about an Osweiler trade, writes Cabot. It’s unclear whether Osweiler, after struggling mightily last year in Houston, would overtake Tannehill’s main backup, Matt Moore, or sit behind Moore on Miami’s depth chart.
The 32-year-old Moore acquitted himself well while filling in late last season for an injured Tannehill, when he helped the Dolphins finish 2-1 to post a 10-6 record and earn their first playoff berth since 2008. Gase lightly endorsed Moore on Friday, telling reporters (including Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today): “Right now, Matt is our quarterback. We’ll see where we go from there because I’ve got to figure out what’s going on with Ryan. And then we’ll make a decision after that.”
There’s “no timetable” for a decision on Tannehill, Gase added, but the Dolphins are going to have to take action soon with the regular season just over a month away.
Dolphins Sign Kwayde Miller
Miami Dolphins
Dolphins Reach Out To Jay Cutler
The Dolphins are already looking for insurance in the event that Ryan Tannehill has to miss games. The team reached out to former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, according to Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald. 
After finding a tepid market this spring, Cutler retired from football and joined the NFL on FOX’s broadcast team. He indicated that he was most likely done playing, but he could maybe be persuaded to return if he can jump in with a potential playoff team like the Dolphins.
Of course, Cutler and coach Adam Gase have some shared history. Gase was Cutler’s offensive coordinator in 2015 when the QB threw 25 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. It turns out Gase personally reached out to Cutler shortly after Tannehill suffered his injury.
Coach Adam Gase has been in contact with Cutler personally the pasty two days as the two men have worked on rekindling a relationship that helped Cutler throw 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2015 when he was the starting QB for Chicago and Gase was the offensive coordinator
The Dolphins have reached out to “multiple” QBs, according to Salguero, but Cutler is the most prominent one of the bunch so far. That probably means that Colin Kaepernick has not been contacted. Other noteworthy available QBs include Robert Griffin III, Christian Ponder, and Shaun Hill.
Now that Cutler is in play for Miami, one has to wonder if the Dolphins might also try and lure CBS broadcaster Tony Romo out of retirement.
Fins Fear Ryan Tannehill Will Miss Season
The Dolphins’ “fear” is that quarterback Ryan Tannehill will have to undergo season-ending surgery on his left knee, according to Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN. They haven’t made a decision yet, however, and Tannehill could choose to rest for six to weight weeks in lieu of surgery.
A few reports have trickled in regarding Tannehill’s knee since he departed practice on Thursday. While one of those has been positive, the majority have offered pessimistic outlooks, which is the case here. Tannehill has injured his left knee twice since last December, when he partially tore his ACL and had to sit out the Dolphins’ final three regular-season games and their wild-card round loss to the Steelers.
Darlington reported earlier Thursday that there are some Dolphins officials who would like Tannehill to undergo surgery as a way to put his left knee problems behind him for good, and a source told him and Schefter that “[Tannehill’s] done, I think,” in regards to his chances of playing this year. Another informed the reporters that Tannehill’s knee is “a ticking time bomb that was going to go off at any time.”
Even in a best-case scenario, it seems the Dolphins could go without Tannehill until sometime in October, which would leave them with Matt Moore as their only experienced quarterback. Moore performed admirably in Tannehill’s stead down the stretch last season, but he hasn’t started extensively since his first year with the Dolphins in 2011. While Miami could choose to ride it out with Moore under center, it’ll still look for insurance at the position. The retired Jay Cutler is reportedly willing to table his fledgling broadcasting career to play for the Dolphins and reunite with head coach Adam Gase, who meshed nicely with the signal-caller as the Bears’ offensive coordinator in 2015. However, the 34-year-old Cutler would only return if the Dolphins were to guarantee him a starting job for the entire season.
Unlike Cutler, other options won’t be in position to demand a starting job at this point. Colin Kaepernick, who has drawn some interest from the Dolphins, is one possibility. Robert Griffin III, Christian Ponder, Shaun Hill and Zach Mettenberger are also among the league’s unemployed QBs. No one from that group has ties to Gase, though veteran Browns backup Brock Osweiler does from their days together in Denver. Osweiler might end up on the outs in Cleveland in the coming weeks if he doesn’t win its starting job, which could make him a Dolphins target.
Regardless of where Miami goes from here, it’s now in a disastrous situation on the heels of its first playoff season since 2008. Tannehill was instrumental in the Dolphins’ success last season, and he has served as a capable starter since they chose him eighth overall in the 2012 draft. The ex-Texas A&M standout fared well enough earlier in his career for the Dolphins to hand him a four-year, $77MM extension prior to the 2015 campaign. Tannehill’s under team control through 2020 as a result.
Jay Cutler Interested In Dolphins
After encountering a tepid market for his services in free agency this year, longtime quarterback Jay Cutler elected to walk away from football in May and pursue a career in broadcasting. Three months later, the 34-year-old is having second thoughts. If Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill‘s left knee injury proves to be major, Cutler would be willing to sign with the team as a full-time starter, reports Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com.
Miami is the only team for which Cutler would consider resuming his NFL career, and he’s not coming back if it means sitting on the bench, per Darlington. The Dolphins haven’t considered signing him yet, adds Darlington, but Cutler already has a good relationship with head coach Adam Gase. The two worked together to positive results in 2015, Gase’s only season as the Bears’ offensive coordinator. That year will go down as Cutler’s last productive campaign if he doesn’t leave the FOX broadcasting booth to return to the gridiron.
A potential Cutler pursuit will be moot if Tannehill’s knee doesn’t end up being a problem. Since he left practice Thursday, optimistic and pessimistic reports have surfaced regarding Tannehill’s status. The 29-year-old missed the tail end of last season with a partially torn left ACL, and while the severity of the injury he suffered Thursday in the same knee is unknown, Dolphins officials do regard it as a setback, writes Darlington. Moreover, there are some within the organization who believe Tannehill should go under the knife to fully repair his knee once and for all. If that were to happen, Tannehill likely wouldn’t play at all in 2017, which could set up a Cutler-Gase reunion and leave FOX short a color commentator.
Dolphins Could Look For O-line Aid
- Dolphins guard Ted Larsen will be a candidate to begin the season on injured reserve if his biceps does prove to be torn, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. In that case, the Dolphins could check in on the free agent and trade markets for help at the position, suggests Jackson, who notes that ex-Miami Hurricane Orlando Franklin would have interest in signing with the team. Franklin’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, reached out to the Dolphins earlier this offseason, but they were content with their guard situation at the time. Franklin was most recently with the Saints, who cut the cord shortly after signing him – partly because of a knee injury.
Surgery Possible For Ryan Tannehill
While there was a hopeful report on Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill‘s injured left knee earlier Thursday, he’s not in the clear yet, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. An MRI on Tannehill’s knee came back inconclusive, writes Salguero, who hears that “all options remain on the table” – including surgery. Tannehill will go for a second opinion, adds Albert Breer of The MMQB (Twitter link).
Tannehill departed practice Thursday on the heels of a non-contact injury, after which the Dolphins feared the worst, per Salguero. If the 29-year-old’s knee issue actually does require him to miss time, it would force Miami to check into free agent options – whether they’re low-profile types or more polarizing options such as Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, Jay Cutler and Tony Romo. While Cutler and Romo are retired, the Dolphins could still kick the tires on either should Tannehill’s injury prove serious. Cutler, Chicago’s longtime starter, has a connection to Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, who was the Bears’ offensive coordinator in 2015.
As of now, the only healthy QBs on the Dolphins’ roster are Matt Moore, David Fales (one of Cutler’s ex-Chicago teammates) and 2016 seventh-round pick Brandon Doughty. Moore, to his credit, is a better reserve option than most – he stepped in late last season after Tannehill succumbed to a partial ACL tear and helped the Dolphins to a 2-1 finish en route to a 10-6 record. Moore completed 55 of 87 passes, averaged 8.3 yards per attempt and tossed eight touchdowns against three interceptions in his four appearances (three starts). The 32-year-old was also at the helm for the Dolphins’ wild-card round game against the Steelers, and while he fared OK statistically (29 of 36 for 289 yards with a touchdown and a pick), his club was on the wrong end of a 30-12 decision.
Ted Larsen May Have Torn Biceps
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill wasn’t the only Dolphin to suffer an injury Thursday. Guard Ted Larsen left practice with what the team fears is a torn biceps, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). The likelihood is that Larsen will miss “several” regular-season games, per Jackson.
The Dolphins signed Larsen as the outset of free agency in March, and he immediately became a strong contender to start at left guard for the club. The 30-year-old brings plenty of experience to the table, having combined to start in 65 of 102 appearances as a Buccaneer, Cardinal and Bear from 2010-16. In Chicago last year, Larsen posted the fifth 16-game slate of his career and logged eight starts, during which he ranked a respectable 37th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 75 qualified guards.
As they brace for a prolonged Larsen absence, the Dolphins will go forward with Anthony Steen, Kraig Urbik and fifth-round pick Isaac Asiata as potential options opposite No. 1 right guard Jermon Bushrod. Steen started seven games at center in 2016 while Mike Pouncey was on the shelf. Fortunately for Miami, there’s hope that the hip issues which have troubled Pouncey in the past won’t cause problems this year.
Latest On Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill
The Dolphins got a scare on Thursday morning when Ryan Tannehill exited practice after a non-contact injury. We’re still waiting on the full diagnosis, but the early word this afternoon is positive. There is no structural damage in Tannehill’s knee, a source tells Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
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The lack of structural damage indicates that Tannehill can probably avoid surgery, which should cut down on recovery time. Tannehill missed the last three games of the 2016 season and the team’s wild-card loss in the playoffs and they’re hoping to avoid a similar fate with the latest knee ailment.
Last year, Tannehill graded out as the league’s 16th best quarterback, per the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus. His 80.9 score was a career-low and a step back from his peak years in 2013 and 2014.